Note 265 — Chapter V

Most of these, it may be remarked, as well as the character of Thenot and the unconventional rôle of the satyr, find parallels in the earlier stages of the Italian pastoral. The transformation-well recalls the enchanted lake of the Sacrifizio; the introduction of a supernatural agent in the plot reminds us of the same play, as well as of Epicuro's Mirzia; the friendly satyr, of this latter, which may be, in its turn, indebted to the revised version of the Orfeo; the character of Thenot is anticipated in the Sfortunato. I give the resemblances for what they are worth, which is perhaps not much; it is unlikely that Fletcher should have been acquainted with any of the plays in question, though of course not impossible. The magic taper appears to be a native superstition, a survival of the ordeal by fire.